Eluvianii

Had to do some errands so I could only read one chapter today. My words turned prophetic a lot earlier than expected. It was an eventful chapter though. Dude, what a mess. The Italians were no saints, but they were backed into a corner here. Choice didn't matter, they lose either way. However, Kinzo's superior really took an arm there. Like, take 10%, you're still set for life. Asking for 50% is unnecessarily greedy but, well, at least you're both "even". But killing them all so they get nothing I can't put a word on. "Aha, so they don't want our country to take possession of the gold" yeah Sherlock, why is that a surprise? Greed aside, I really like how the word 'witch' came to be here. For such a bloody story, that's a really sweet beginning. I was always a bit reluctant to believe the first Beatrice would live in such isolation willingly, but with the full context, it really seems like this was the only way to find happiness for both of them. It's still tragic, even more than I originally thought even, but in a different way. It's easier to accept now. I will also have to take back yesterday's theory. I genuinely believe Kinzo wouldn't. Even if his madness was strong and he was 100% convinced his daughter was Beatrice reincarnated, he would wait until her memories returned. And naturally, that never happened. Even better, we are told that he most likely knew in the back of his mind that it was just a delusion on his part. Knowing that he really wouldn't. I also have to say, amazing job from Beatrice's voice actress. Three different tones of voice with their accents. Heh, I remember that 13 Sentinels meme. Protagonized by Chihiro Morimura, Chihiro Morimura, Chihiro Morimura, and Chihiro Morimura. Well, here we have Umineko When They Cry, protagonized by Beatrice, Beatrice, Beatrice, and Beatrice.

I see. More powerful than the detective proclamation certainly. Also about whether Lion is Kinzo's son, would that be a rafo question?

An ability has been mentioned, he tried to use it to coerce Shannon into calling Kanon. That said, the power in question seems to be used to paint a vivid picture of the stories he's told, plus he pulled a whole confession out of Rosa before Bern gave it to him.

That's ominous... Alright, two chapters a day. A pretty nice pace that totally won't be broken once they start being three hours long. Not a lot to say beyond a small detail namely HOLY CRAP THAT'S BEATRICE. I don't know why I wasn't expecting it but I wasn't expecting it. It makes so much sense too. It was clear that Kinzo had gotten gold somewhere, but the element of some lady lending Kinzo 10 tons of gold alone was ridiculous enough that any "logical" explanations people came up with were similarly crazy. But seeing now how similar they actually were, yep, makes sense. Gold wasn't even strictly hers so I'm wondering how this is going to go down but at least explaining how they met and fell in love is a massive piece of the puzzle falling into place. Man, Ryukishi sure likes referencing WW2. He's pretty good at it though. He's avoiding pointing fingers at anyone and just focuses on the lives of the people from a ground level. I like it. Oh yeah, forgot to mention this bit yesterday but isn't it strange that the family just readily accepts that this stranger is attending a funeral, that was likely a private affair, taking place in private property, that you have to take a boat to get to? Just a bit weird. Lion had a bit of a reaction when Kinzo confessed to directing his love at the wrong people. Is Lion among the wrong people? Wait. No. Waitwaitwaitwait. Dude is 19. Beatrice II died 19 years ago. He has the blondest hair out of anyone currently alive in the family. Man, please tell me I'm reading too much into this...

Did a couple chapters in Episode 7. Intriguing doesn't begin to cover it. If I got this right, this should be the imitation board in Featherine's place. So I won't be surprised if Battler is nowhere to be found. For just a split second, I thought Diana was a human. It was terrifying. I suppose Lion is the baby Natsuhi was supposed to take care of? Bern said she just put Beatrice's box inside a bigger box, and I suppose that means a bigger time frame. So saving the baby and Kinzo should be possible. At least I think. The idea of will could work to prevent most choices from being made, but Kinzo freaking died. From natural causes no less. Did she undo his years of drinking or something? Lion's introduction was perfect. It took like 5 lines to establish both that he's the kindest person around, and that Will is the only person who can get on his nerves. Must. Not. Ship. Wait, I skipped something important. They showed the outside world! There is stuff out there! Once it became clear that characters like the bunnies and the stakes were literally Maria's toys I started to doubt if any of the witch side characters were real. Save for Bern, Lambda, and Featherine of course. But the prologue to this chapter, that one is hard to doubt. There really is a second plane of existence somewhere that happens to be entirely based around murder mysteries. Damn. I read somewhere that the tea party for this episode is something like a third of the episode. So main portion is going to be short. Given that and the weird start it had, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole episode is in the chapel. Master doesn't want us to see Kanon and Shannon in the same room. Are we sure Shannon isn't Kanon in a dress? It's interesting that they're the only ones that don't remember Lion. Furthermore, Lion doesn't remember them. What if the pieces that aren't supposed to exist recognize one another? Lion was supposed to die and was brought to the present day artificially. Maybe it's the same for those two. Oh, and speaking of will and artificial means, I guess the same method could be used to prevent that Battler exists, or him getting the name Battler, or him coming back to the main family. Either way, haven't seen his piece anywhere but it's not that unexpected. "There is a bit of difficulty". Alright, so not the answer sheet I was anticipating. Cool.

Ok, my bad there, I should say different. The deaths you can see in the menu are the ones you were made aware of during the Episode, but they are different from the ones in the "credits". In the credits Battler appears as killed during the first twilight and Kanon during the second. Yet in the character list Battler is unconfirmed and Kanon you can't even try to kill. It was strange. Oh, I see. I guess I'll try to take the clues in an eventual reread, as of right now I couldn't figure it out.

First theory is going to be that either Kanon or Shannon aren't real. All this about only one of them being able to fulfill their love might be because literally only one of them can, being alive and all. I do not like that option however, so I'll try to disregard it for the time being. Oh yeah, one of my braincells hit the corner of the dvd screensaver I call brain and I remembered a couple things about the results sheet. I don't recall the whole thing and the version in the menu is outdated, but was it just me or did it not include Erika's killings? Furthermore, both Battler and Kanon appear as dead. That was strange. Did Kanon commit suicide in the closet to stop existing? I like that in the wedding all the characters were just casually attending dressed as goats. It also is the Golden Land, so most of the events there can probably be counted as not real, but still, it was cute to see Eva accepting her son's relationship for once. Rosa's "Marriage isn't the goal, it's the beginning" kinda stings on the other hand. I'm glad that this particular Ange got some closure, even if there's about a 50/50 chance she'll die within a couple days. At least she's aware. Sad to see Okonogi's still shady, hell, he was very much worthy of respect back in Higurashi, so if anything, this would count as a fall. Amakusa seems to have enough doubt within him to turn around though. I'm going to trust that. By the way, they are going to revisit what Ange saw in that old man's house back during her trip to Niijima, right? It was such a short event and it hasn't even been referenced so far, I'm starting to think I was supposed to understand it and just didn't. Ohhh right, Tohya promised (or at least said she'll think about it) to write a miracle! Look, I'm not necessarily expecting this story to have an everyone died and the whole game is just a long eulogy ending, but I'm also not 100% sure it won't. That one comment has given me a lot of hope for an actual happy ending. That said, she's a bit of a sadist. An episode with Bern as the master is not unexpected, but it definitely won't be pretty. She's already taken control of Beato too, this one will probably be up to Battler alone. And the number comes back in the ending, time to find out what it means. Wait, what am I saying, this is Episode 7, they're going to unveil all the big secrets, of course the numbers came back. Well, looking forward to it.

Reverie is big plot-wise. Very big. But it balances out by taking away some freedom. 3-hour long dialogue rounds are mostly gone here (mostly). Not to say they're not there, you'll be able to move around and talk to people, but the area is limited. Meaning that you no longer have the whole of western Erebonia to check whenever the sun so much as moves. Most dialogue rounds cover a single town. Game is well over 100 hours long, but that's like 90% plot. After that you can theoretically continue playing forever because the game also has the most combat freedom in the series, and a level-adjustable combat ground to test it. Reveries also contribute to the duration. They're optional and I don't think any event ever pushes you to watch them, but I recommend doing so. They provide a good chunk of the closure this game has.

Ok, all these little tidbits that explain nothing and just hint at bigger things. Lambda talking about Bern's hell was unexpected, at least this soon. We are talking about Higurashi here, right? If so, is Hanyuu Bern's master? Was the whole deal about a happy ending being impossible just her giving up on a goal she imposed on herself? That would actually make the ending to Minagoroshi make so much more sense. Rena blaming their deaths on her for not believing always felt rather unfair to me. But if getting out of the loop was Hanyuu's responsibility in the first place, it fits a lot better thematically. Hell, if we continue down that train of thought, one could even consider her being able to stay in that last fragment and live a normal life as a reward for taking up that responsibility again. "As a Reader, you too have the right to enjoy thinking. ......And I enjoy watching you as you do." This is a really cool quote. Perfect summary of everything this dude writes. Ok so, Beatrice is 19. That feels a lot more significant than just stating an arbitrary age for the avatar of the game's rules. I feel like this helps ground her as a real person. And I really want to find out who this person is. Also, she's not blonde, nor bad mouthed. The latter became clear at the beginning of the episode, but I guess that hint from Episode 3 was correct. This is not her real appearance. Just Battler's ideal girl. Oh yeah, I started reading Malazan. Therefore I have now decided that Oponn looks like Zepar and Furfur. Dlanor looks funny with glasses. Bit of an update as I wrote as I wrote this post in two parts. I thought I was about to finish today's session but this last segment was too much of a page turner. So, main portion of Episode 6 done. Tea party pending. Virgilia yelling at Beato to do her best was adorable. She sounds like a mom cheering for her daughter at a school competition. Kanon, you hero, unveiling new personalities for all the people you know at the last moment. So Kinzo's stern and unreasonable persona that everyone remembers and exaggerates was a mask huh? Or at the very least, not the full package. Somehow childish, playful Kinzo fits just right. Knowing that even Krauss was kind to Kanon, and that he understood Natsuhi is a very nice farewell on his part too. Ok, time for the main question. "That still makes 17"?! What is that? Is it related to Kanon and Shannon? Kanon, Shannon, and Beato form a single soul, I think. But like, that's the witch's explanation, doesn't work for the human side. What the hell, who's dead? Not to mention, this is too good a note for the ending. Erika is gone, Battler is alive, Beato pretty much became Beatrice. No reason to continue this. No reason to kill this Beato either. Battler can now just say a long red truth detailing the whole mystery and the story will be gone. Well, I guess that's the reason Bern is nowhere to be seen. She'll do something, and it will be sickening. This mirrors Tsumihoroboshi quite well actually. That too had a happy ending with no reason to continue the story, and yet everyone died anyway. I guess it's time to see what they pull during the tea party.

Yeah, we're catching up. Now that the quadruple release business is done, we can probably count on a game a year around July. Even if Falcom dedicates next year to Tokyo Xanadu (meaning, no new Trails), that still leaves us one game behind so, it'll mean there's still material for a yearly localization.

Hey, don't forget the very small reference he gets in Reverie, that apparently didn't warrant even a small portrait still, just a name drop. Hope we get more of him if the plot ever moves to Arteria.

"No, of course not, why would I-" Twinkle hurried to answer, but trailed off. The question wasn't really worth asking, was it? She just had to look around. Rob had betrayed everyone, but one person above all of them. His spren. Cup was no more, and Twinkle had avoided thinking about it. And who was to say it wouldn't happen to the rest of them? Ed is not like that though. Cup must have thought the same about Rob. Rob probably felt backed into a corner. He must have thought he had no choice, like I told Ed. And how do you know he will never feel like that too? I know him well, he won't. You know him? When did you bond, four months ago? Humans hide things. And even if he isn't, they change. If that happens, so be it. ... The other voice finally shut up. So be it. "I-" she started. "I'll be careful." she had been whispering the whole time but the sound now came out even quieter than before. It was barely audible. "Are you alright, Glint?" she said. "I-I mean, I'm not implying-" she trailed off again. I'm not implying I suspect Ben of anything. She couldn't bring herself to finish. @Lunamor

Twinkle almost started flying up to tell Ed someone was talking to him, before she realized the other spren was addressing her. That had been a whisper too, she figured Ed wasn't supposed to hear. This was a first for her. She didn't talk to the other spren much, or the other Radiants for that matter, partly because Ed wasn't that social to begin with. It was a good opportunity. After making sure he hadn't realized anything, she went down to where Glint was waiting. "Hi, Glint. Is something wrong?" she said, lowering her voice too. @Lunamor

Yeah, this is a long final dungeon, definitely not the single sitting kind. I think it took me something like 8 hours. That said I think 4th stratum is the last.

I try to, longer if possible. My dental health is bad enough as it is... TPBM struggles to go to sleep before midnight.

From what little I could see, they were excited to see the references. It's the only way to do it really. Save for special cases, Falcom doesn't write any characters (not counting portrait-less npcs) until the arc where they are relevant. So any cases of "They were actually living in Crossbell all this time" can't be shown without a rerelease of some kind. If they ever revisit Sky (and Kondo said at some point that he wants to) they'll likely do the same.

Yeah, Crossbell characters are kinda sparse in CS. It was supposed to be a big deal when all of them were announced for Reverie (and it was).

To add to the above, it's kind of the norm here to spoiler everything, no matter how old. If anything, I think you aren't supposed to post for books in spoiler period at all. There were some warnings about that back when RoW was new, though using at least the tag would be nice.

One time when I was a kid I wanted something sweet at lunch and thought "Hey, maybe I can put some sugar in this ground meat my mom made." It's one of the worst ideas I've ever had. What is the weirdest food combination you've ever tried that actually tasted good?

Hole up, stock supplies, get some books. Best place to eat pineapple pizza?

Unless it's an evil campaign and the GM complains that we're too good. Speaking of GMs, ours decided to start nullifying his own crits during a fight, because even he recognized it was a bit too much to roll 4 crits in a row against the same character. All the while half our hits don't connect. At this point we have a joke that he has some kind of hack to roll high rolls and make us roll low, a passive ability as a professional GM of sorts, because this sort of thing happens quite often. We never finish a campaign of his with a single character. All part of the fun though.

Crossbell is an arc with fewer chapter but all of them dense, CS3 style. Works really well imo.

Honestly, I wouldn't call her role in CS4 a conclusion. She has the single longest running character arc in the series and I'm pretty sure stuff continues to happen in Daybreak. But yeah, I guess I wouldn't be as attached to her if it wasn't for Sky. She's my favorite character really.

If it's the Capua company then yeah, they become sort of a staple, and in Zero the company is at its newest (like a year and a half old already but yeah). Theirs is also a thread that carries on from Sky.

Erika refuses to let me get used to her. Every time I get used to her antics she pulls some other crap that makes me remember "Oh that's right, I hate her." Anyway she can do that? Killing everyone herself is such a ridiculous move. Well, we're back at the prologue I guess. It is nice knowing that the puzzle does have a solution, but I most certainly can't see it. Looking forward to the answer if it's ever revealed. Gonna try to come up with one of my own until then.